Refrigerator having heat conduction sheet

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator having one or more heat conduction sheets is provided. The refrigerator may include main body having a cooling chamber formed therein, and a door that opens and closes the cooling chamber. One or more heat conduction sheets may be disposed on the main body, the door, or a combination of various portions thereof so as to substantially eliminate an occurrence of a temperature variation on a corresponding planar surface and reduce an insulation thickness.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This claims priority to Korean Application No. 10-2008-0126048, filed in Korea on Dec. 11, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

A refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet is provided, and more particularly, a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet capable of reducing an insulation thickness is provided.

2. Background

A refrigerator stores food items in a fresh condition. A refrigerator may include a main body having cooling chambers formed therein, doors for opening and closing the cooling chambers, and a refrigeration cycle device for supplying cooling air to the cooling chambers. The refrigeration cycle device may be a vapor compression refrigeration cycle device including a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for radiating the compressed refrigerant, an expansion unit in which a refrigerant is decompressed to be expanded, and an evaporator in which the refrigerant absorbs latent heat to be evaporated.

Refrigerators may be equipped with a variety of functions and features to enhance user convenience and satisfaction. For instance, a refrigerator may include an ice making system (or device) for making ice cubes, and an ice bank disposed below the ice maker for storing the ice cubes made by the ice maker. The ice maker may be installed at an inner side of one of the doors, or inside the freezing chamber, or an ice making chamber may be may be installed inside the door or the freezing chamber so as to house the ice maker, and may include an ice making chamber door for opening and closing an opened area of the ice making chamber. It would be advantageous to minimize the size of ice making and dispensing components so as to increase the size of the ice making chamber and/or the corresponding cooling chamber in which it is installed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to one exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates an opened state of an ice making chamber shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an ice making chamber door shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an ice making chamber according to another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5 according to another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein; and

FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a freezing chamber area of a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a bottom freezer type refrigerator, a refrigerating chamber is formed at an upper portion of the refrigerator main body and a freezing chamber is positioned below the refrigerating chamber. In the bottom freezer type refrigerator, a dispenser may be provided at a front surface of the refrigerating chamber door to dispense ice and/or water. An ice making chamber may be formed at the refrigerating chamber door so as to provide ice for dispensing through the dispenser. In this instance, side wall cooling air ducts may be formed at a side wall of the refrigerator main body so as to supply cooling air from the freezing chamber to the ice making chamber.

However, the positioning of these cooling air ducts within the side wall of the refrigerator main body may make it difficult to provide a sufficient adiabatic thickness in the installation areas of cooling air ducts. This may cause condensation on the outside of the side wall cooling air ducts.

To address this problem, an electric heater may be used, but the electric heater increases power consumption.

Additionally, positioning of the ice making chamber at the inner surface of the refrigerating chamber door renders that space difficult to adapt for other storage. For example, a door basket cannot be mounted at the installation area of the ice making chamber. Further, if a door basket or a door pocket were installed in the area of the ice making chamber door, the door basket or door pocket would likely interrupt a flow of cooling air, thereby increasing temperature variation in the ice making chamber door, causing some areas of the ice making chamber door to be excessively cooled, and accumulation of condensation.

In order to prevent condensation due to a decline in the flow of cooling air, a thickness of the ice making chamber door may be increased in proportion to an area of the door having the greatest local temperature variation. However, this would decrease a volume of the ice making chamber and/or the storage space.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet as embodied and broadly described herein may include a refrigerator main body 110 having cooling chambers 120 and 130 formed therein, and doors 125 and 135 for opening and closing the respective cooling chambers 120 and 130. Simply for ease of discussion, the cooling chamber may collectively refer to the refrigerating chamber 130 and the freezing chamber 120.

The refrigerating chamber 130 and the freezing chamber 120 may be respectively formed at upper and lower portions of the refrigerator main body 110. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a pair of refrigerating chamber doors 135 is provided at a front face of the refrigerating chamber 130 so as to selectively open and close the refrigerating chamber 130. In alternative embodiments, only one refrigerating chamber door 135 may be provided. The freezing chamber door 125 may be a drawer type door that slides into and out of the freezing chamber 120 so as to open and close a front opening of the freezing chamber 120.

A home bar 138 may be provided at one of the refrigerating chamber doors 135 to provide access to the refrigerating chamber 130 without opening the refrigerating chamber door 135. In addition, a dispenser 139 may be provided at another of the refrigerating chamber doors 135 to dispense water and/or ice without opening the refrigerating chamber door 135.

An ice making chamber 141 for making ice may be disposed above the dispenser 139. Hereinafter, simply for ease of discussion, an exemplary embodiment will be described in which the dispenser 139 and the ice making chamber 141 are provided in the left side refrigerating chamber door 135.

A side wall cooling air duct 137 may be formed within the side wall of the refrigerating chamber 130 so as to supply cooling air from the freezing chamber 120 into the ice making chamber 141. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of side wall cooling air ducts 137 may be provided so that one of the side wall cooling air ducts 137 serves as a cooling air supply duct for supplying cooling air to the ice making chamber 141, and the other serves as a cooling air return duct for returning cooling air having passed through the ice making chamber 141 back to the freezing chamber 120.

The ice making chamber 141 may open toward the refrigerating chamber 130, and an ice making chamber door 145 may be coupled to the ice making chamber 141 by hinges 147 so as to rotatably open and close the ice making chamber 141.

Door baskets or door pockets 151 may be provided on a rear surface of the ice making chamber door 145 so as to accommodate foods therein. A single door pocket 151 may be provided, or alternatively, a plurality of door pockets 151 may be provided, spaced from each other in a vertical direction.

A heat conduction sheet (film) 170 may be provided on one side surface of the ice making chamber door 145 so as to reduce surface temperature variation (deviation) of the ice making chamber door 145, thus allowing a thickness of the ice making chamber door 145 to be reduced. In addition, a local temperature variation due to a decline in the flow of cooling air caused by the door pockets 151 may be prevented.

The heat conduction sheet 170 may have an excellent heat conduction coefficient in a planar direction. In one embodiment, the heat conduction sheet 170 may be a graphite sheet configured such that the heat conduction coefficient in the planar direction is 100˜500 W/mk and the heat conduction coefficient in a thickness direction is 5˜10 W/mk, thereby rapidly transferring the heat in the planar direction, while only minimally transferring heat in the thickness direction. in alternative embodiments, the heat conduction sheet 170 may be formed of a metallic member, such as, for example, an aluminum (Al) sheet, a copper (Cu) sheet, or other metallic material as appropriate. In addition, the heat conduction sheet 170 may be formed of a heat conductive plastic.

The ice making chamber door 145 may function as a barrier which separates the ice making chamber 141, which has a relatively lower temperature (approximately −15° C.), from the refrigerating chamber 130, which has a relatively higher temperature (approximately −3° C.).

As such, the ice making chamber door 145 may include a door outer plate 146, a door inner plate 147 disposed at an interior side of the door outer plate 146 with a space formed therebetween, and a foaming agent 148 filled for insulation between the door outer plate 146 and the door inner plate 147. The heat conduction sheet 170 may be attached to the outer surface of the door outer plate 146 so that, if the ice making chamber door 145 is closed against the ice making chamber 141, the door outer plate 146 indicates a surface facing the refrigerating chamber 130 and the door inner plate 146 indicates a surface facing the ice making chamber 141.

In this instance, a maximum surface temperature of an ice making chamber door without such a heat conduction sheet may be approximately 2.2° C., and a minimum surface temperature thereof may be approximately −2.45° C., indicating a temperature variation of approximately 4.65° C. Thus, the thickness of such an ice making chamber door is increased based on an area having the minimum surface temperature (−2.45° C.), thereby increasing the overall thickness of such an ice making chamber door. On the contrary, if the heat conduction sheet 170 is attached to the surface of the door outer plate 146 of the ice making chamber door 145 as shown in FIG. 3, a maximum surface temperature of the ice making chamber door 145 is approximately 1.0° C., and a minimum surface temperature thereof is approximately −0.36° C., indicating a remarkably lowered temperature variation of approximately 1.36° C.

In addition, if the door pockets 151 are not mounted on the ice making chamber door 145, a maximum surface temperature of the ice making chamber door 145 may be approximately 1.83° C. and a minimum surface temperature thereof maybe approximately −1.15° C., indicating a temperature variation of 2.98° C. Accordingly, the thickness of the ice making chamber door 145 with the heat conduction sheet 170 attached thereto may be reduced, and the door pockets 151 may have an increased depth to provide additional storage space. Alternatively, instead of increasing the depth of the door pockets 151, the storage space provided in the refrigerating chamber 130 may be increased, to improve space utilization.

Descriptions of another exemplary embodiment will be made with reference to FIG. 4.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a heat conduction sheet 180 may be attached onto an inner surface of the door outer plate 146. If the heat conduction sheet 180 is mounted onto the inner surface of the door outer plate 146 of the ice making chamber door 145, the maximum surface temperature of the ice making chamber door 145 may be approximately 1.0° C., and a minimum surface temperature thereof may be approximately 0.36° C., indicating a remarkably lowered temperature variation of approximately 0.64° C. The thickness of the ice making chamber door 145 may be remarkably reduced, and a depth of the door pockets 151 may be increased or the interior storage space of the refrigerating chamber 130 may be enlarged for improved space utilization.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to still another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5. For simplicity, the same reference numerals will be given to the same or similar components having the same or similar functions, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5, the refrigerator may include main body 110 having a refrigerating chamber 130 and a freezing chamber 120 formed therein, and doors 135 and 125 for respectively opening and closing the refrigerating chamber 130 and the freezing chamber 120. The refrigerating chamber door 135 may include a dispenser 139 and an ice making chamber 141. A pair of side wall cooling air ducts 137 may be provided in a lateral wall of the main body 110 so as to supply cooling air from the freezing chamber 120 to the ice making chamber 141 and return cooling air from the ice making chamber 141 back to the freezing chamber 120.

Referring to FIG. 6, the refrigerator main body 110 may include an outer case 111, and an inner case 112 disposed at an inner side of the outer case 111, with a space formed therebetween that is filled with a foaming agent 113 for insulation. The side wall cooling air ducts 137 may be disposed between the outer case 111 and the inner case 112, i.e., surrounded by the foaming agent.

A heat conduction sheet 190 may be attached to a portion of the refrigerator main body 110 such that the heat conduction sheet 190 is positioned away from the side wall cooling air ducts 137. Accordingly, a surface temperature variation (deviation) caused by the side wall cooling air ducts 137 is increased, thereby preventing the accumulation of condensation on the outer surface of the refrigerator main body 110.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the heat conduction sheet 190 is disposed on an inner surface of the outer case 111 spaced apart from the cooling air ducts 137 with foam 113 therebetween. Thus, if cooling air is circulated along the side wall cooling air ducts 137 and the cooling air is then transferred to the surface of the refrigerator main body (i.e., the outer case 111), the heat conduction sheet 190 rapidly transfers the heat (or cooling air) in the planar direction, thereby uniformly maintaining the surface temperature of the main body 110, thus preventing the accumulation of condensation caused by supercooling on a local area of the outer case 111.

Descriptions of still another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein will be made with reference to FIG. 7.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a heat conduction sheet 200 may be attached onto an outer surface of the side wall cooling air ducts 137. Alternatively, the heat conduction sheet 200 may be disposed on an inner surface of the side wall cooling air ducts 137. This is to prevent leakage of cooling air to the outer surface of the refrigerator main body 110, i.e., the outer case 111, by taking advantage of a characteristic of the heat conduction sheet 200 which rapidly transfers heat in the planar (plate surface) direction while only minimally transferring heat in the thickness direction.

When so configured, if the cooling air is circulated along the inside of the side wall cooling air ducts 137, the heat conduction sheet 200 rapidly transfers heat/cooling air in the plate surface direction while substantially preventing the transfer of heat/cooling air in the thickness direction. Therefore, the heat conduction sheet 200 may prevent the transfer of cooling air to the outer case 111 at an area where the side wall cooling air ducts 137 are installed. This may eliminate the need for an electric heater, and the like for compensating for a temperature reduction by the cooling air in the area where the side wall cooling air ducts 137 are installed.

Descriptions of still another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein will be made with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a freezing chamber area of a refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to still another exemplary embodiment as broadly described herein.

Referring to FIG. 8, the refrigerator may include a refrigerator main body 110 having a refrigerating chamber (not shown in FIG. 8) and a freezing chamber 120 formed therein, and a door 125 opening and closing the freezing chamber 120.

A circulation path 122 through which air inside the freezing chamber 120 is cooled may be formed at a rear of the freezing chamber 120. An evaporator 127 for supplying cooling air may be disposed inside the circulation path 122. A cooling fan (not shown) for accelerating air flow may be disposed at the circulation path 122. A partition wall 124 may be formed between the circulation path 122 and the freezing chamber 120. The partition wall 124 may include an inlet 126 through which air from the freezing chamber 120 is drawn.

A heat conduction sheet 210 may be at attached to a surface of the partition wall 124, whereby a local cooling on the surface of the partition wall 124 and supercooling of the freezing chamber 120 may be prevented, thus allowing a thickness of the partition wall 124 to be reduced and extending a usable space within the freezing chamber 120.

The heat conduction sheet 210 may be disposed on an inner surface or an outer surface of the partition wall 124.

When so configured, if a refrigerant flows to the evaporator 127 as the refrigerating cycle device (not shown) operates, the cooling fan (not shown) is rotated. Then, air from the freezing chamber 120 is drawn through the inlet 126 and cooled while passing through the evaporator 127. The heat conduction sheet 210 rapidly transfers cooling air generated by the evaporator 127 in the plate surface, or planar, direction, thereby preventing significant temperature variation on the surface of the partition wall 124 as well as transfer in the thickness direction.

Heat conduction sheets as embodied and broadly described herein may be respectively installed at one or more of the ice making chamber door, the outer case of the refrigerator main body, the side wall cooling air ducts and the partition wall.

As described above, an increase in insulation thickness caused by temperature variation may be prevented by lowering the occurrence of temperature variation in a single plane, whereby space utilization within the refrigerator may be enhanced.

In addition, an increase in thickness of the ice making chamber door may be prevented by lowering the surface temperature variation of the ice making chamber door, thereby avoiding reduction of the space within the refrigerator.

In addition, the door pockets may be provided at the ice making chamber door, thereby facilitating food storage.

In addition, even though the flow of the cooling air may be degraded by the door pockets, the surface temperature distribution may be uniformly maintained, thereby not requiring an increased thickness of the ice making chamber door and no reduction in depth of the door pockets.

In addition, instead of increasing insulation thickness, the temperature variation on the outer surface of the refrigerator main body may be reduced, thereby the need for an electric heater to prevent condensation, thus reducing the power consumption. In addition, the insulation thickness is not increased, thereby increasing storage space within the refrigerator.

In addition, the thickness of the partition wall for dividing the evaporator and the freezing chamber may be minimized, thereby increasing usable space within the refrigerator, as well as preventing the occurrence of supercooling in a portion of the space within the refrigerator.

A refrigerator is provided having a heat conduction sheet capable of preventing an occurrence of a temperature variation (deviation) on a single plane.

A refrigerator is provided having a heat conduction sheet capable of preventing a dewfall caused by a local temperature variation.

A refrigerator is provided having a heat conduction sheet capable of excluding a use of an electric heater for a temperature compensation.

A refrigerator is provided having a heat conduction sheet capable of solving a temperature variation caused by lowering the flow of cooling air without greatly changing an insulation thickness.

A refrigerator is provided having a heat conduction sheet capable of increasing a space within a refrigerator by reducing an insulation thickness.

A refrigerator as embodied and broadly described herein may include a refrigerator main body having a cooling chamber therein; a door for opening and closing the cooling chamber; and a heat conduction sheet disposed on at least one of the refrigerator main body and the door.

The door may include an ice making chamber, and an ice making chamber door for opening and closing the ice making chamber, and the heat conduction sheet is disposed at the ice making chamber door.

The heat conduction sheet may be disposed on an outer surface of the ice making chamber door.

The ice making chamber door may be provided with an outer plate and an inner plate disposed at an inner side of the outer plate with a gap therebetween, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed on an inner surface of the outer plate.

The ice making chamber door may also include a foaming agent filled between the outer plate and the inner plate.

The ice making chamber door may include a door pocket.

A side wall duct may be provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber for a flow of cooling air, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed at the outside of the side wall duct.

The refrigerator main body may include an outer case and an inner case spaced from the inner side of the outer case, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed on the outer case.

The heat conduction sheet may be disposed on an inner surface of the outer case.

A side wall duct may be provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber for a flow of cooling air, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed at the side wall duct.

The heat conduction sheet may be disposed on an outer wall surface of the side wall duct.

The heat conduction sheet may be formed of at least one of graphite, a metallic member and a heat conductive plastic.

An evaporator, and a partition wall for dividing the evaporator and the cooling chamber may be provided at a rear of the cooling chamber, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed on the partition wall.

The heat conduction sheet may be formed of at least one of graphite, a metallic member and a heat conductive plastic.

The heat conduction sheet may be installed at the ice making chamber door.

A side wall duct may be provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber for a flow of cooling air, and the heat conduction sheet may be further disposed at the outside of the side wall duct.

The heat conduction sheet disposed outside the side wall duct may be disposed on an inner surface of the outer case of the refrigerator main body.

A side wall duct may be provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber for a flow of cooling air, and the heat conduction sheet may be disposed on an outer wall surface of the side wall duct.

A refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to another embodiment as broadly described herein may include a refrigerator main body having a cooling chamber and a side wall duct formed at a side wall of the cooling chamber; a door having an ice making chamber communicated with the side wall duct and an ice making chamber door for opening and closing the ice making chamber, and for opening and closing the cooling chamber; and heat conduction sheets respectively disposed at the outside of the side wall duct and the ice making chamber door.

A refrigerator having a heat conduction sheet according to still another embodiment as broadly described herein may include a refrigerator main body having a cooling chamber, an evaporator disposed at one side of the cooling chamber, a partition wall for dividing the cooling chamber and the evaporator, and a side wall duct formed at a side wall of the cooling chamber; a door having an ice making chamber communicated with the side wall duct so as to open and close the cooling chamber; and a heat conduction sheet disposed on an outer or inner surface of the side wall duct.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, numerous variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a main body having a cooling chamber formed therein; a door rotatably coupled to the main body so as to open and close the cooling chamber; and at least one heat conduction sheet provided on at least one of the main body or the door.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the door further comprises an ice making chamber provided on an interior side thereof, and an ice making chamber door that opens and closes the ice making chamber, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is provided on the ice making chamber door.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is attached to an outer surface of the ice making chamber door.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the ice making chamber door comprises an outer plate and an inner plate coupled to and spaced apart from the outer plate so as to form a gap therebetween, and wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is positioned on an inner surface of the outer plate facing the inner plate.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the ice making chamber door further comprises a foaming agent filled within the gap formed between the outer plate and the inner plate such that the foaming agent is positioned between the at lest one heat conduction sheet and the inner plate.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 2, further comprising a door pocket provided on an outer surface of the ice making chamber door.
 7. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising at least one side wall duct provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is provided at an outside of the at least one side wall duct.
 8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the main body comprises an inner case positioned within an outer case, with a space formed therebetween, and wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is positioned on an inner surface of the outer case.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is attached to an outer surface of the at least one side wall duct.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising at least one side wall duct provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is provided is attached to an inner surface of the at least one side wall duct.
 11. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet conducts heat in a planar direction thereof such that a surface temperature of the at least one of the main body or the door on which the at least one heat conduction sheet is provided is substantially uniform.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet is formed of graphite, a metallic member or a heat conductive plastic.
 13. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a partition wall that separates the cooling chamber from a compartment formed within the main body that houses an evaporator, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet comprises a first heat conduction sheet provided on the partition wall.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the first heat conduction sheet is formed of graphite, a metallic material or a heat conductive plastic.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet further comprises a second heat conduction sheet installed on the ice making chamber door.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 15, further comprising at least one side wall duct provided at a side wall of the cooling chamber, and wherein the at least one heat conduction sheet further comprises a third heat conduction sheet installed at an outside of the at least one side wall duct.
 17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the third heat conduction sheet is installed on an inner surface of an outer case of the main body, spaced apart from the at least one side wall duct.
 18. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the third heat conduction sheet is positioned on an outer wall surface of the at least one side wall duct.
 19. A refrigerator, comprising: a main body having a cooling chamber formed therein and at least one side wall duct formed at a side wall of the cooling chamber; a main door that opens and closes the cooling chamber, the main door having an ice making chamber in communication with the at least one side wall duct and an auxiliary door that opens and closes the ice making chamber; and first and second heat conduction sheets respectively positioned at an outside of the at least one side wall duct and at the auxiliary door.
 20. A refrigerator, comprising: a main body having a cooling chamber formed therein, a partition wall that divides the cooling chamber from an evaporator positioned to a side of the cooling chamber, and at least one side wall duct formed in a side wall of the cooling chamber; a door that opens and closes the cooling chamber, the door having an ice making chamber in communication with the at least one side wall duct; and a heat conduction sheet disposed on an outer or an inner surface of the at least one side wall duct. 